Natural Hair: New Growth

I love this pic!!

Many of you have asked if it is really necessary to make the big chop when going natural. To be blatantly honest, YES! you should. However, there are other alternatives if you don't really want to make such a drastic change. According to Anu, owner of the natural hair salon, Khamit Kinks (Located in Brooklyn, NY):

"When growing out your perm, it is not recommended to groom two distinct textures daily. This will cause breakage. When you decide to let your perm grow out, the best solution is to wear your hair in a style that doesn't require daily grooming. You can achieve this by either getting a braided style or loose styles that don't require daily combing, brushing, or blow drying, like a Straw Set.
Every four weeks as the new growth gets longer an inch or so of the permed ends can be cut off until all your hair is virgin, natural hair. It only takes a few weeks for your scalp to start producing new growth. Therefore, within a four week period you could have a quarter of an inch to an inch of new growth. The question is how long do you want your new growth to be before you feel comfortable with cutting off your permed hair. You could cut your processed hair off gradually or you could cut most of it off once you have a few inches of new growth. Everyone's hair grows at a different rate. It may take a year for one person to have 5 inches of new growth and another person could have 5 inches of new growth in six months. One option is to wear your hair in braids or twists as your new growth grows in."

I would also say to make sure you are conditioning and moisturizing your hair on a regular basis as this will help to reduce breakage and splitting. A great conditioner I always recommend is the Organic Root Stimulator Hair Mayonnaise. The Elasta QP Mango Butter Moisturizer is also a great cream moisturizer to have handy.

Hope this helps, honeys!

Old-Time Favorite

My mother would use Infusium 23 products on my hair when I was just a young honey. It was a part of her "wash & set" routine. I still use it from time to time, and I always make sure I have a bottle of the leave-in treatment on hand.
Recently, the weather in New York had been really crappy and I'd been wearing my hair in two low "Pocahontas" pig-tail braids. After washing and conditioning my hair, I remembered the bottle of Infusium 23 leave-in treatment for damaged hair (the "Repairologie" line) that I had stashed away. I grabbed the bottle and shook some of the cold liquid near my roots and also on my ends. I parted the hair down the middle, braided hair on each side, wrapped with a scarf and off to sleep I went. Two days later, I took out the braids and surprisingly I was left with shiny and bouncy waves that looked and smelled good.
I may have forgotten but I just remembered: Infusium 23 is a great addition to ANY wash & set, twist-out, etc.
PS- The "Volumologie" conditioner has a lovely subtle scent, sometimes in the summer I'll wash my hair and leave the conditioner in; it'll follow you like a perfume (but not overpowering).
What are some of your "old-time favorites"?

Big Hair!

I'm back from what was a very necessary vacation. It was my first trip to Cancun and the weather (as well as the people) were lovely! Every day was more beautiful than the last. I don't want to be back in "reality" but it's the trips like these that make you appreciate all that life has to offer.

While in Cancun, I didn't really want to fuss with my hair too much (who wants to spend time on hair when you're trying to have fun?). What I did every morning was rinse & go: I stuck my head under the water faucet, slapped on some Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Fortifying Cream Conditioner (did not rinse out) and off I went to the beach.

The following pic is the outcome. The beach was quite windy and so this is my "sun-dried, wind-blowned look". At first, I'll admit I didn't like it but my friends were loving it, now I see why! If only I could recreate that look without the sun and ocean breeze!

The end result was not so great though. My hair was extremely dry and felt like hay in some areas (which was more likely due to the sun I spent hours in). I am in definite need of a good deep conditioning treatment- which I'll spend time doing this weekend. 

Dr. Miracle: Miracle or Mishap?

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Dr. Miracle (Well not actually "Dr. Miracle" himself, but one of his reps). She wanted to know if I would be interested in trying out their latest product: Deep Conditioning Treatment Singles. I know many of us have mixed feelings regarding Dr. Miracle. I'll admit, even I was a little skeptical at first because I had never tried any of the Dr. Miracle products. However, I agreed to give it a try while letting her know that I am completely honest in my reviews. She sent me a few samples and was very sure that I would have nothing but great things to say regarding Dr. Miracle.

This past Sunday, with nothing much to do I decided to give this conditioner a fair chance. First thing I noticed was the scent- it's verrrrrry "pepperminty". But that didn't bother me- I actually liked it. The directions say to use a plastic cap and sit underneath a warm dryer for about 10-15 minutes or 30-60 minutes without the heat. I didn't feel like dragging out the ol' dryer and opted for the latter. I put on the plastic cap and continued on about my daily chores while experiencing that tingling sensation on my scalp. About 45 minutes later I rinsed the conditioner out and applied their Styling Meds Leave-In treatment/conditioner (I didn't really like the smell of the leave-in treatment, which was remniscent of medicine). To be completely honest I was pleasantly surprised with the overall outcome. My hair was actually shiny and very soft. It actually DID look and feel healthy. I have to say I was really impressed. When I woke up this morning I noticed that it was still very soft to the touch. Below is a pic taken the day after.

Damage Control: About $1.59 each

-Although on the packet it states perfect for "on-the-go", I'm not so sure of that because you'll need at least 30 minutes plus a plastic cap. However, the packets are very easy to travel with (can easily be tossed in your bag).

I hope I don't sound like a "paid advertisement" or an infomercial, ladies!! I really DO think this is a great deep conditioning treatment at a really great cost- I'll definitely be using it again.

My All-Time (and Affordable!) Favorite

Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Leave-In Conditioning Cream!! Summer is on it's way back around and I think I'll be going back to my all-time favorite leave-in conditioner. Usually in the summertime I will just wash my hair and not rinse out the conditioner. However, once I stumbled across this creamy leave-in, I decided to give it a chance- especially since I am also a fan of Garnier Fructis' shampoos & conditioners. These are my favorite summertime products.

I use the GF Sleek & Shine Leave-In Conditioner in the same manner as I'd use any other curl cream- I apply to soaking wet hair in sections, starting from the bottom up. Since it's usually hot out, I let it air dry.

I would have to say this product is a great alternative to the more
expensive curl creams. For only about $4.00 it's definitely worth a try.